Women's Volleyball

Gauchos Sweep Past UC Davis

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -
UC Santa Barbara bounced back from its home-opening loss to Pacific on Friday evening with a three-set sweep over Big West foe UC Davis on Saturday night at the Thunderdome. The Gauchos defeated the Aggies 25-16, 26-24, 25-11 to earn their first home win of the 2008 season.

With the win, UCSB improves to 7-8 on the season and 3-1 in the Big West, marking its best conference start since the 2005 season. The Aggies fall to 8-9 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

For the second night in a row, the Gaucho offensive effort was led by sophomore outside hitter Charlene DeHoog who posted 11 kills on 14 attempts for a .786 hitting percentage. She also tallied a service ace and two block assists in the win. Senior outside hitter Lauren McLaughlin was the only other Gaucho to crack double-digits for kills with 10. McLaughlin also chipped in three service aces, six digs and five block assists.

Sophomore middle blocker Kasey Kipp was also error-less as she laid down seven kills on 11 attempts for a .636 clip. Kipp led the team at the net with six total blocks. As a team, the Gauchos out-blocked UC Davis 12-4.5.

Sophomore Dana Vargas dished out 27 assists and also tallied two kills, four digs and two block assists. Freshman middle blocker Lily Lopez had five blocks and two aces to go along with a pair of kills.

Renee Ibekwe led the Aggies with 11 kills in the loss. She also tallied one ace and four digs. Carson Lowden had a team-high 17 helpers in the match while Asia Casino dished out 13 assists and also tied teammate Avreeta Singh with a match-high seven digs.

The Gauchos scored the first two points of the match, but UC Davis climbed out to a narrow 4-3 advantage on a Gaucho attack error. The lead proved to be the last of the set for the Aggies as UCSB went on a 4-0 run behind the serving of Lopez to take an 8-4 advantage. UC Davis nipped at the Gauchos' heels for a while but UCSB displayed a solid .462 team hitting percentage across the set and took the frame, 25-16.

UC Davis came back with a vengeance in the second set and commanded the lead from the first point. The Aggies stretched their advantage to as many as four points on five different occasions. Trailing 17-13, the Gauchos went on a four-point run that included a pair of aces by McLaughlin to tie the set for the first time at 17-17. UC Davis was able to regain the lead on a kill by Melanie Adams and found its way to match-point first at 24-21 with a block by Katie Denny and Chantal Paschetta.

One point away from dropping the second set, UCSB's Rebecca Saraceno posted a kill, which was followed by a block from Kipp, to climb back within one at 24-23. A series of three UC Davis errors put the Gauchos on top, 26-24.

The third set was all UCSB as it hit a match-best .545 (12k, 0e, 22att) on its way to the 25-11 set victory and the 3-0 match win.

UCSB will continue Big West Conference action on the road next week with a match at Long Beach State on Saturday, Oct. 11. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the 49er's Walter Pyramid.